Attorney General Ashley Moody announced Wednesday that an investigation by several state agencies surrounding events connected to the attempted assassination of now President-elect Donald Trump in Florida this year resulted in an arrest warrant being issued for Ryan Routh.
Routh, a 58-year-old resident of Hawaii, has pleaded not guilty to federal charges of attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate, assaulting a federal officer and three firearms counts.
He could face up to life in prison if convicted.
Routh, who is being held without bail at the federal jail in Miami, now faces a state charge of attempted felony murder as well, Moody said at a news conference Wednesday in Stuart.
Gov. Ron DeSantis had planned to make the announcement himself, but his plane was delayed by fog in Tallahassee, Moody said.
The state charge is related to a crash that occurred as Routh was fleeing north on I-95, attempting to elude law enforcement.
Moody said when Routh was pulled over, investigators had to stop traffic in both directions on I-95 to ensure public safety, and during the stop, a 6-year-old girl traveling with her family was seriously injured in a crash and almost died.
“We felt compelled to seek justice on her behalf and her family that will never be the same as they cope with her injuries,” Moody said.
Prosecutors say Routh methodically plotted to kill Trump for weeks before aiming a rifle through the shrubbery as Trump played golf on Sept. 15 at his West Palm Beach country club.
Before Trump came into view, Routh was spotted by a Secret Service agent. Routh allegedly aimed his rifle at the agent, who opened fire, causing Routh to drop his weapon and flee without firing a shot.
Prosecutors say he left behind a note describing his intentions.
Routh’s arrest came two months after Trump was shot and wounded in the ear in an assassination attempt during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. The Secret Service acknowledged failings leading up to that shooting but has said security worked as it should have to thwart the potential Florida attack.
Moody said Americans had natural questions about how a second attempt could be made on Trump’s life so soon after the attack in Pennsylvania, which is why DeSantis signed an executive order tasking Moody’s Office, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Florida Highway Patrol with investigating “any violations of state crimes surrounding those events.”
That investigation led to the charges related to the crash, Moody said.